You don’t have to look any further than Sunday’s heats of the 200m freestyle on day one of the individual events at the 2003 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championships to know it will kick start what will be an amazing week of racing.
The Queensland Championships always holds a special place on the Australian swimming calendar – and 2023 is shaping up to be the strongest on record – marking the return to domestic competition of Australia’s World champion Olympic and Paralympic swimmers.
The meet gets under way tomorrow, Saturday here in Queensland with the traditional Inter-Cub and Inter-Regional relays before the first of six days of individual Open, Age and Para racing gets underway at 8.30am (heats) and 6pm (Finals) local time on Sunday at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler – featuring over 3,400 competitors.
It will be the start of the countdown for next year’s Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games Trials (also at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, June 10-15) a lead in for some that will also take in the 2004 World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February (Australian team to be finalised after the meet).
And who better to start proceeding than Mollie O.
Enter the competitors for Heat One of Seven in the women’s 200m freestyle, featuring reigning world champion and world record holder Mollie O’Callaghan in lane four – one of seven swimmers from her famed St Peters Western (SPW) Swim Club in the opening heat.
Seven of 12 swimmers altogether from the SPW program that produced all four swimmers in the unforgettable World Championship winning 4×200 freestyle relay.
On one side of O’Callaghan is Bri Throssell (teammate in Australia’s world record breaking 4x200m team from the Fukuoka Worlds) and on the other Kiah Melverton (teammate of O’Callaghan in the world record breaking 4×200, team from Birmingham Commonwealth Games).
Introducing Heat two – in lane four none other than Olympic champion and former world record holder Ariarne Titmus – either side of Titmus are Olympic and World 4x100m relay golden girl Meg Harris (Rackley Swim Team) and four-time World Short Course gold medallist Lani Pallister (Griffith University).
And lining up in heat three will be SPW’s Shayna Jack (4x200m freestyle team member in Fukuoka) and alongside her in lane three will be renown world record-breaking three-time World and Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown (Griffith University) and in lane five two-time Olympic 4x200m freestyle silver (2016) and bronze (2020) medallist Leah Neale (Chandler).
The fastest 10 qualifiers for Sunday’s final will read like a who’s who of women’s freestyle swimming.
And then the boys line up with 2022 World champion for 400m Elijah Winnington (SPW) in lane four of the first of seven heats.
Alongside Winnington in lane three will be Olympic 4×200 bronze medallist and 2019 World 4x200m champion Alex Graham (Miami) – the fourth fastest Australian all-time with his 1:45.22 and in lane five will be 2019 4x200m relay World champion, Clyde Lewis (SPW) whose 2019 personal best of 1:44.90 is still the second fastest ever by an Australian.
Only Ian Thorpe’s 2001 World Championship-winning time of 1:44.06 is quicker.
Heat two will see Tokyo 4x200m bronze medallists Zac Incerti (USC Spartans) in lane four and anchor man Thomas Neill (Rackley Swim Team) in three and rising star and 20222 Commonwealth Games 4x200m gold medallist Flynn Southam (Bond).
Before reigning 400m freestyle world champion from Fukuoka Sam Short (Rackley Swim Team) headlines heat three in lane three alongside 2023’s big mover, Tasmanian discovery, Max Giuliani (Miami) who has improved in a quantum leap to become the fifth fastest Australian of all time with his 1:45.42 to win the Budapest World Cup this year.
With Fukuoka 4x100m gold and 4x200m bronze medallist Kai Taylor (SPW) taking to the water in lane five.
Miami To Make Record Attempt on the Australian Club 4x200m Freestyle Relay
There will be an added bonus for fans on Tuesday night with a squad from Miami (James Koch, Max Giuliani, Alex Graham, Alex Grant and Cooper Ritchie) who are planning an Australian club 4x200m freestyle relay record attempt under Head Coach Richard Scarce.
The long-standing record from 2015 is held by the Miami team of Grant Hackett, Daniel Smith, Thomas Fraser Holmes and Jordan Harrison) under legendary coach Denis Cotterell at 7:10.24 – and the Class of ’23 will need an average time of 1:47.00 which would equate to a time of 7:08.00 if they are to surpass the class of ’15.
Scarce said he and his boys know it’s going to be a real challenge, but they are up it.
“Alex Graham is the driving force behind the attempt and the record was set from a team from our club that included three Olympians led by Grant Hackett and under the great man Denis Cotterell,” said Scarce.
“We’ll give it a crack that’s for sure and with Australia having such a great relay tradition I’m sure it will create a lot of interest.”
Australia dominated this year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, winning 13 gold and a total of 25 medals – topping the gold medal tally – and four of those gold medals were in relays.
The Dolphins triumphant Paralympians, who shone at the World Para Championships in Manchester where they finished sixth in the medal tally, with a total of 30 medals – nine of them gold will also be out in force.
With the Paralympic and World champions Benjamin Hance (St Andrews) who will contest nine events plus relays, Rowan Crothers (Yeronga Park), Lakeisha Patterson (USC Spartans) and Alexa Leary (St Hildas, QLD) leading a strong Para contingent.
Swimming Queensland has received entries from 3,415 nominated athletes, compared to 3,262 in 2022, with 8,829 nominations (compared to 8,781 last year) from 183 clubs – up by six from 12 months ago as well as overseas entries from 19 countries.
Legendary four-time South African Olympian, world champion and gold medallist Roland Schoeman at 43, headlines the internationals and he will line up again reigning world champion Cam McEvoy in the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly.
Japan, led by Olympians Rikako Ikee and Daiya Seto, have arrived in Australia with a strong open, age and Paralympic team as they prepare for Paris, Los Angeles, and the Brisbane Olympics.
Other major swimming nations represented include Great Britain, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland.
The women’s and men’s 100m freestyle heats will be swum on Monday (From 12 Noon).
The women’s featuring Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus, Shayna Jack, Bri Throssell, (St Peters Western), Kaylee McKeon (Griffith University), Olivia Wunsch (Carlile, NSW), Meg Harris (Rackley Swim Team), Mila Jansen (Bond), Emma McKeon (Griffith University) and Cate Campbell (Chandler).
The men’s 100m fields includes Jack Cartwright, Kai Taylor (St Peters Western), Alex Graham, Max Giuliani (Miami), Flynn Southam (Bond), Zac Incerti (USC Spartans), Will Yang (SOPAC, NSW), Cody Simpson (Griffith University) and Ed Sommerville (Brisbane Grammar).
